Jimmy Johnson knows a thing or two about building franchises, and successful football programs.

He’s done it at every one of his college and NFL stops, and that includes his tenure with the University of Miami and Miami Dolphins.

If you missed Johnson’s talk with WQAM’s Joe Rose morning show Tuesday morning you better listen to the replay because the Fox analyst put down his fishing pole to drop a few nuggets of knowledge that might help everyone from Dolphins owner Steve Ross to Tony Sparano, and the average South Florida football fan. Listen below:

That one made me want to scream “hallelujah” considering I suspect the groceries haven’t been purchased properly during the Trifecta’s era.

But the other aspect of Johnson’s talk with Rose I found extremely interesting was Johnson’s plea for Dolphins fans to support the hiring of a “young, hungry” up and coming coach instead of going after retreads like Bill Cowher, Jon Gruden and Jeff Fisher when/if Sparano is removed as head coach.

I’ve avoided coaching candidate talk for months, and will continue to do so out of respect for Sparano, his staff, and the team.

Even Johnson says the team is clearly “playing hard” for Sparano, which is not a debatable topic from my standpoint.

“They have given tremendous effort every single week regardless of the circumstances,” Johnson said. “Credit [goes] to him.”

But I happen to agree with Johnson, and have consistently said so in a few WQAM spots. I’d prefer going young, fresh and hungry instead of old, proven and set in their ways.

The NFL teams heading in the right direction are the Steelers, Ravens, 49ers, Tampa Bay, Atlanta and Carolina. What do they all have in common? They hired first time head coaches who all brought a new approach.

Johnson acknowledged that Fisher “is a friend” immediately before pointing out he’s had six winning seasons in 17 years as Tennessee’s head coach before being ousted last offseason.

Johnson also said serving as a head coach in the NFL is like voluntarily wanting “to spend night and day [working] and not have any family life,” hinting that those coaches with cushy and lucrative TV gigs – individuals like himself, Cowher and Gruden - might not be interested in coming back to the grind.

“I know all the Dolphins fans want to get that big name, but there are some very talented people out there that are young, hungry and passionate, and want to turn this thing around,” Johnson said. “Don’t get so carried away with that big name, who has the perception of the guy who is going to get you to the Super Bowl the next year. That’s not going to happen.”

Johnson said at this point, sitting at 1-7, the Dolphins need to evaluate younger players: “doing some things that will help you in the future. I know it’s tough on Sparano because he wants a future…. But you got to find out before the draft if some of these young guys can play.”….

On the Suck for Luck campaign, Johnson said it’s important to give the team’s best effort. He also pointed out there are “two or three quarterbacks in college this year who look like they’ll be good quarterbacks.”

When asked if the Dolphins have talent, Johnson said “they have some talent.”

“In the NFL the difference between the best and worst is not that much. That’s one reason why every single week, if a team is not playing well, not protecting the ball, they have a chance to get beat. Doesn’t matter who they are playing,” Johnson said. “This team has talent. Now, does it have the talent in the right places?”

Johnson mentioned the quarterback position, referring to the struggles the Dolphins have had there. It’s also become abundantly clear the Dolphins lack playmakers outside of Brandon Marshall, who hasn’t been consistent, and Reggie Bush, who is now stepping it up.

“That was a problem for this team,” Johnson said. “You have to have the right pieces to the puzzle. Obviously they didn’t have the right pieces to the puzzle.”

How desirable would the Dolphins job be for a prospective coach?

“There’s only 32 jobs,” Johnson said. “Then after the 32 you look at teams with traditions. Then you look at the teams in big market. If you have those three things….forget about what they did the year before, or the year before.

“In the NFL, with the draft, free agency, you can turn this thing around in one year. A coach is not going to look at what the team did this year, or last year. He’s going to look at if they have tradition and are in a big market.”

The Dolphins have both.

Johnson said a prospective coach will evaluate the situation based on whether “the owner is supportive and will give you the tools you need. The Dolphins have that. They had it with Wayne Huizenga. The Cowboys had it with Jerry (Jones). He’s going to do whatever it takes to win games. Most, all of the owners are that way.

“You don’t want an owner making decisions when he doesn’t know anything about football. You got to avoid that,” Johnson said.

For the record, Ross doesn’t make football decisions, and he’ll be the first to tell you his role is to “hire good people” to make those decisions.

Ross hasn’t made one hire on the football side since becoming owner in 2008. He inherited Bill Parcells and his people, whom Johnson points out hadn’t won a playoff game in over a decade.

“Ownership in my opinion is the least important thing,” Johnson said. “The most important person in your entire organization is your talent evaluator. Whoever that guy is. When I say talent it’s not necessarily just the players. Talent evaluator as far as coaches, assistant coaches, the people inside your organization. The talent evaluator is the most important person there. It might be your General Manager, Director of Player Personnel. It might be your head coach.”

Johnson, who held that duel role with the Cowboys and Dolphins, said “it’s an overwhelming job with the salary cap and free agency, and you really need to separate it.”

Johnson said holding that duel role is swallowing Pete Carroll up in Seattle, and it’s crippling Bill Belichick, who has that role with the Patriots.

Again, it was a great interview and I encourage everyone to check it out.

I’ll be doing an interview with (560AM) WQAM’s Michael Irvin show today around 1:30 p.m.

Comments (700 Comments)

OMAR KELLY was unsuccessful at achieving his childhood dream to become a super hero, so he figured he'd do the next best thing and become a journalist who fights against injustice, and searches for truth. After being bored to death reporting news and covering politics, he switched to sports.
More

IZZY GOULD joined the Sun Sentinel in Feb. 2012 as a Senior Sports Reporter on the Miami Dolphins beat. He came to South Florida fresh off covering the University of Alabama football program, including its 2011 national championship team. More